People appreciate good craftsmanship, whether it be woodworking, quilting or making cheese.

Making cheese?

It used to be that many small towns had a creamery, where locally produced milk would be turned into butter, cheese and a wide variety of dairy products. The creamery in Dell Rapids was at the corner of 3rd Street and Ladelle Avenue, and a man named Clarence Reuschlein was once a craftsman there.

Clarence had good credentials when he came to town. He had won an award as the best cheesemaker in South Dakota when he worked in Ethan in the 1930s, and so the people of Dell Rapids were very fortunate to have him here.
Not only was Clarence a great dairy craftsman, he was also a load of laughs. After his retirement, he would put in a few hours for my uncle, Fritz, at the plumbing shop, picking up and cleaning off the work benches. He could spin a yarn with the best of them, pile it high and make you howl with laughter.

I like to think that I earned my first B.S. degree while working there with Clarence. I just wish I could have watched him in the creamery, too!